


Blood and Loyalty

by FatalRose



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crime, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Politics, Blood and Gore, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, M/M, Violence, slight D/s
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-16
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:08:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FatalRose/pseuds/FatalRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Levi expected that his latest target, some pompous, rich swine named Erwin Smith, would go down as easily as the countless before him. Levi was wrong. And if he made even one misstep in the twisted game he suddenly found himself ensnared in, he was as good as dead.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Methods

**Author's Note:**

> “ _The law won’t even lay a hand on him._.”
> 
> Levi’s mouth twisted, halfway between a sneer and a smirk for a split second.
> 
> “ _But I can._.”

The autumn wind was a bitter, biting cold as it ripped across the high-rise’s flat rooftop. It raked invisible fingers down the length of a lean spine in a desperate attempt to deter cold grey eyes from their unwavering fixation on the building opposite their perch. Levi huffed irritably, his warm breath billowing like smoke in the frigid air. Strong shoulders rolled back into the long, formfitting black coat to shake off the chill.

The crackling noise of static filled the slight young man’s ear and a feminine voice sounded.

“ _No sign of the target yet. Shifting focus to the northeast quadrant._ ”

A black gloved hand rose, pressing against the small device embedded in his right ear, “No. Head south. Down the alley by 33rd.”

“ _Understood_.”

The compliance was immediate and the line went dead once more. Levi dropped his hand again, hooded gaze shifting across the scene below slowly. A displeased furrow marred the skin between those eyes momentarily, before fading back to its usual unreadable mask. He was more then used to the waiting game some of his targets played, some without even realizing they _were_ playing. It didn’t make the coil of anticipation in his chest any less annoying.

The line between success and failure in these operations was razor thin. The slightest wrong move and everything could be shot to hell. The operation could be botched, or too many eyes would see things, too many people would remember a face meant to be hidden.

His fingers were twisting at a dark steel ring on his left hand, when suddenly the static sounded in his ear once again and a different voice, male this time, spoke up. “ _Sir I have movement in the interior._ ”

Levi peered closer as the automatic doors at the front of Garrison and Thomas LLP. slid open and a solitary figure exited. As soon as his gaze settled on the tall, long haired man, his mind quickly supplied the information he’d learned about this latest target.

_Grisha Yeager, M.D. Head of Yeager Clinical and Pharmaceuticals. Multiple charges of fraud.  Responsible for the death of at least 300 patients, due to prescribed experimental pharmaceuticals- mostly steroid based. Influence in inner political circles has kept him out of jail for years. The law won’t even lay a hand on him._

Levi’s mouth twisted, halfway between a sneer and a smirk for a split second.

_But I can._

Steel eyes narrowed even further as he raised his hand to his ear again.

“Target confirmed. Gin?”

“ _All clear._ ”

“Then we move now, take this bastard down before his little detail arrives.”

“ _Still think it’s fuckin’ ridiculous some stinkin’ M.D has a goddamn security detail._ ”

Levi ignored the third, gruff voice and continued, “Remember this isn’t just a mark. Ral you retrieve the documents. Do _not_ forget the driver. Bossard, try not to piss off more people then you have to.” An irate grumble echoed down the line, but Levi ignored him- “Gin, eyes across Main to 34 th and the building. No one interferes. Move.”

A rapid chorus of “ _Rodger._ ” echoed as Levi turned and moved to the west side of the building. Glancing over the edge, he spotted the fire escape winding down towards the alley. Without hesitation he leapt down, landing with a rattle momentarily before he swung himself over the edge and began climbing down in a series of rapid, fluid movements. In less than a minute his feet hit solid ground again and he picked his way through the disgusting heaps of trash and mud that littered the ground. Reaching the mouth of the alley he peered out.

Across the way, Levi saw Bossard stagger around the corner, dressed in ragged, filthy clothes- causing a moment of repulsion to wash through him. The right side of the man’s face was a mask of bruises- fake of course, but Ral was brilliant when it came to artistic gore- and he held a brown paper bag in one hand.

“I’m tired of the fuckin’ filthy rich asses tha’ run thisss place!” The man’s voice was loud, obnoxious bray that grated on the senses. Not much different from his usual tone, Levi mused to himself. “Wha’ er youuu lookin’ at asshole!?”

After watching Bossard stagger into the hand rail of Garrison and Thomas, mouthing off to anyone who walked passed, Levi’s eyes turned from him, back to the target. Yeager had retreated back up the steps and was pressed back by the doors. Disgust was clear on his face as his full attention fixed on the clearly inebriated man a short distance away.

_Perfect._

Knowing he didn’t have long before someone called the police about the disturbance, Levi moved. Slipping from the alleyway, he strolled casually across the street and towards the office building. Blending in with the steady stream of people going in and out of the enormous law firm, Levi began making his way up the steps towards the man. At the top, the slight male tripped, staggering into the doctor, catching himself on the man’s wrist. The long haired man started, jerking away reflexively.

“Watch it!”

Levi straightened, not sparing the man a single glance as he muttered an offhand, “Excuse me.” pushing past the doctor to slip into the warm interior of the office. As he passed, he heard the doctor mutter under his breath, “Damn idiot scratched me.”

Levi almost smirked outright.

 Continuing on his way, he kept his eyes forward, even as he peeled off the ring looped about his left ring finger. Along the bottom lay a wicked, claw shaped hook which was tipped blood. As he slipped the ring into his pocket, Levi heard the screams start up outside.

Reaching into the pocket opposite the ring, Levi plucked up a sleek black phone. Turning the corner as he flipped it open, he speed dialled number 4 and held it up to his ear, leaning back against the wall by one of the lobby benches casually.

“ _You’re missing out._ ” Came the deep voice on the other end of the line.

“Tragic.” Levi deadpanned, gaze trailing across the buildings polished interior, critical eyes picking out cobwebs strung up in the furthest corners and mud tracked into the plush carpet that ran down the center to the front desk. “Is the footage going to be ready on time, Schultz?”

“ _Of course. You’ll want to see this one, I guarantee._ ”

Levi angled his head just slightly, steel tinted eyes catching sight of the swarming crowd gathered around the body crumpled at the top of the steps. “Well, fire it to me when you have it finished then.”

“ _Will do sir._ ”

Hanging up, Levi pushed himself off the wall and made his way down a narrow side hallway, entering into the janitorial section of the office. There was no one in sight. After a quick glance back towards the lavish entry, he turned and slipped open one of the service stairways that lead down into the basement. As he made his way down the steps, the static crackled in his ear.

“Report.”

“ _Target is down. Police are outside, but Bossard’s out of the area and Ral’s got the documents._ ”

“Good. Head back to HQ Gin.  I'll rendezvous with you in an hour.”

“ _Got it. See you there, Captain._ ”

Levi rolled his eyes at the nickname, finally making it to the bottom of the steps. Plucking up a key from an obviously loose tile, he unlocked the door leading into the furnace room and slipped through. The heat washed over him like a tidal wave, but he didn’t pause, striding forward as he reach into another of his pockets. From it he retrieved a small grey phone, which he turned on. Opening the contacts, he briefly eyed the only listed name. “ **1** ”. Its only purpose was to inform his client that the deed was done and he expected the payment in 24 hours. Otherwise there would be consequences.

He’d only ever had one of his clients try to give him the slip, back when he was just starting out. And after that pathetic soul had met an untimely end in a most unfortunate accident- one which had the police picking body parts up out of the sewers for weeks- it had never happened again.

Pressing dial, the phone began ringing, an oddly ominous buzzing tone. Barely breaking stride, he yanked open the heater. Quickly he tossed the device into the blazing furnace and slammed the metal door shut before it could reach the last ring.

Then, without further thought, the dark clad young man pushed open the exit, the cold September air blasting through him as he slipped out into a back alleyway. Casting a brief glance towards the front of the building, he saw the flashing red and blue lights of police sirens and even from here he could hear the incessant chatter of the crowd. Tugging his long coat tighter around his lean frame, Levi turned on his heel, he made his way to the other end of the alley. Emerging from the filthy space, he was immediately caught up in the waves of people, which seemed to pass through Mauer's heart in a steady stream at all hours of the day. Letting himself get swept up in the maddening rush of bodies and voices, Levi faded into the background, becoming just another face in the crowd.


	2. The S.O.S

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fallen who would never be mighty, and the mighty who would never recover
> 
>  
> 
> (These are supposed to be end notes, but AO3 is being weird and just reposting the first one again so...yeah)
> 
> So this turned out to be really long and not a lot of dialogue. Yeash! Sorry about that! I just really wanted to start laying out the world and Levi's team a bit more.
> 
> Also, I am absolute shit at describing building interiors. So if anyone is curious I kinda sorta based it off of this place (most the floor plan):
> 
> http://www.lvshedesign.com/archives/21229.html
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> As always, if you enjoyed, please feel free to leave kudos, comments, critique, ect.!

 

Bright silver coins hit the bottom of the city bus’ metal toll box with a few echoing _clinks_. Walking back to hover by the back doors of the, Levi utilized his superior balance to ensure he did not have to come into contact with any other part of the disgustingly filthy public transport or its passengers.

He hated having to utilize such means and opted not to if it could be at all avoided. But even he had to admit it was a lot more subtle then ripping around on his sleek black Daytona 675. Hell, it was even more discrete then a cab, given that they had a constant influx of passengers, dozens at a time, so all the faces tend to get blurred together. And for one who was seeking anonymity, as he always was after taking down a target, it was ideal.

Well the anonymity was at least. Levi felt _very_ strongly that he could do without the filth surrounding him.

Fighting off a shudder of revulsion, Levi turned his attention to the world outside the grungy windows. They rumbled out of the downtown area and headed to the more residential outskirts, towering skyscrapers and glittering neon lights exchanged quite abruptly for houses and apartment complexes.

Traffic was heavy, much of the mid-afternoon flow being diverted away from downtown because of the ‘accident’. Levi could hear the report already being made over the radio.

“ _At 1:35pm this afternoon, world renowned physician Dr. Grisha Yeager, suffered a fatal heart attack just outside of  the Garrison and Thomas L.L.P law firm. Eyewitnesses report Dr. Yeager collapsing suddenly and he passed away before paramedics were able to arrive at the scene. The doctor did not suffer from any known pre-existing heart conditions, but experts say that it was likely due to the high stress factor of his work. Dr. Yeager leaves behind a son and…_

At this point he tuned out rest of report. If that was the report going around, it meant they’d gotten out of it without any cause for concern. No one would think there was anything suspicious in a stressed out doctor dying from a heart attack.

Or at least what _looked_ like a heart attack.

 _So the drug worked,_ He thought, absently fingering the ring through his coat, _Glasses will be fucking ecstatic._ He grimaced inwardly, already dreading the doubtless hours long phone call in his near future as the brains behind the poison that had taken down Yeager so flawlessly gushed about her ‘discoveries’ and other such shit.

Another thirty minutes passed until he spotted his destination out the window. Thanking whatever high powers that may be that he had gloves on, Levi reached over and tugged the grungy yellow cord draped along the bus’ walls to signal for his stop.

Clambering out with about half a dozen other passengers, the dark clad man turned and back tracked up the street towards a set of privately owned apartments. The buildings were blocked off by a high brick wall and black metal gating. Levi knew he could have easily pulled himself up and slipped through the space at the top, but there were too many people about to risk such an obvious display.

Leaning back against the rough bricks, Levi pulled out his phone, texting a quick message to Schultz. To anyone outside the squad, the words looked like the horrific love child of an drunk adolescent’s texting, mixed with a really bad cocaine high. In truth it was a message to Schultz to jam the sensors of the apartment complex he was outside.

The buzzer on the apartment gate sounded not a minute later, and he pulled it open. Trekking across the impeccably kept lawn, he skirted around the east side of the building. Lining the back of the apartments was a solid concrete wall nearly fifteen feet high. Levi scaled it effortlessly, using the low balconies attached to the complex to scramble up and over in a few minutes, careful of the barbed wire lopped about the top.

Landing on the other side was like stepping into a completely different world.

Gone were the paved roads and manicured lawns. Gone were the glittering skyscrapers and magazine cover houses. Gone were the cheerful faces and the laughter of children.

Instead the cracked, near barren ground was sloped down, leading to the edge of Maria Bay. It was filled with decaying remains of old factories and houses so run down, most were better off in the makeshift shanties scattered about the streets. Safer too, if anyone could ever truly be considered safe here, of course. It looked like some kind of landfill and reeked just as badly. Most of the stench came from the polluted waters of the bay, grey-green plumes of algae overtaking the shore line as far as the eye could see.

On tourist maps and to those who inhabited it, it was a large, unmarked grey area called ‘The Undergound.’

To people from the ‘decent’ part of town, it known as ‘No-Man’s Land.’

What they meant, was no one- except for the helpless, desperate souls crushed and shackled under the miserable excuse of a shit pile that Mauer called a government. Some of them had been born here, with no hope of ever seeing anything outside of it. And the others had been thrown over ‘the Wall’ as locals called it. No one was ever down here by choice.

Levi still remembered what an old friend of his had said, when asked by some foreigner what the Underground truly was.

The fallen who would never be mighty, and the mighty who would never recover. Not after they’d displeased the higher ups and lived to tell the tale.

It wasn’t a joke or some clever metaphor so much as the absolute and despairing truth.

Some would say they were lucky to have kept their lives. But Levi knew plenty of them, those who’d spouted such nonsense, only to fall themselves and realize that human life wasn’t worth much in this godforsaken country.

Starting to wind his way through the multitude of uneven paths, Levi headed towards the water’s edge. He was aiming for what had once been a major industrial district when Mauer had first sprung up around the bay and there were still gigantic warehouses scattered about along the edge of the bay, though many had been broken down for parts to build the hundreds of makeshift shelters that made up the shanty town.

 It was there, in one of the store houses, that his squad was waiting and Levi was anxious to see what the day had brought them. The documents Ral had obtained were supposed to contain some extremely vital information on a few of the targets they’d been tracking for a few months now.

Most who knew him - and more specifically his OCD tendencies- were shocked if they learned where he’d settled his main HQ. He had a number of them of course and he mixed up which they would be meeting in periodically. Two of them were fully outfitted and were set up so that they mirrored what he was capable of accomplishing in the main building out here. The others were honestly just nesting places for any one of the squad to go if they needed to cover their tracks and lay low. Or if there was a meeting just too brief to bother gathering everyone in one of the larger buildings.

His answer, to the few who’d ever known him well enough to ask- extremely few and far between though they were- was always the same.

The Underground was where one disappeared, where everyone became faceless and lost whatever identity they had. And for someone like him, the act of vanishing often meant the difference between life and death.

Levi had never taken the same route to the warehouses twice, always conscious of potential threats that would find patterns an easy thing to target and strike. It wasn’t hard to find new routes either. The Underground was a veritable maze. Sometimes people who’d lived here for years would still get lost in the chaotic, unorganized streets.

As he ghosted through the hectic and haphazardly configured space, he kept his attention on everything he passed while appearing to all the world like a man oblivious to his surroundings. It was a skill he’d perfected ages ago and one that had kept him alive and out of more dangerous situations than he could count. As he passed by though, those he encountered kept their eyes to themselves and out of his path. He had some manner of infamy in this place, thanks to his talents and volatile temperament. And though he doubted anyone knew his true profession, it was an unconscious, but unanimous decision of the Underground’s citizens to stay out of his way. Most had enough sense to not go looking for trouble, their lives already hard enough in this hellhole.

Any fools who forgot, or newcomers who hadn’t learned that yet and tried their luck at taking him down were quickly and thoroughly made an example of that.

Casting a brief glance at his watch once he’d finally escaped the main part of the ‘town’, Levi noted he still had roughly ten minutes until he’d told the others he would arrive. Plenty of time for his method of travel.

He broke out into a run. Taking off across the uneven ground with natural grace and long years of experience, he clambered through the skeletons of old buildings, and flew over rusted and broken storage containers. He wound through the various lots, confident in his destination though the path was different then the dozens of times before. Then he spotted it, perched along the rocky shore, tucked neatly away in the far corner. Propelling himself up and over a chain link fence that surrounded this area of the district, Levi headed towards the building marked with a faded white number 51. With a brief glance over his shoulder, he tugged open the heavy steel door and slipped through the crack into the warehouse.

The base level of the warehouse was empty and unfinished. Barren and slightly cracked concrete walls made up the perimeter, but it was in much better condition than the majority of the other buildings in the area. And it was mercifully free of squatters at the moment, though he knew that was bound to change with the coming of winter. Levi tended to turn a blind eye to it so long as they were smart and stayed on the main level. It wasn’t much warmer than the outside granted, but it had protected a rather large number of people from losing limbs to frostbite in the bitterly cold months.

And, as he’d learned, having a rather large number of people indebted to you was just another way of having eyes and ears all over the city. If he needed information, he had nearly hundreds of sources he could go to and most of them understood that if they were able to give him useful information, they would often wake to find much needed supplies, clothes, food, blankets, ect. stashed away in their ramshackle homes.

Angling across the room, Levi headed up the short flight of steps leading to the second floor of the building. There was a door at the top that was always kept unlocked and it lead into an enclosed landing. There was another door on the right hand side, beside which sat a card lock.

Slipping a specially encoded key card from the inner breast pocket of his jacket, he slid it into the slot at the top and stepped back to stand a little ways away from the door. The machine was silent as it processed his card, save for a single beep as it suddenly inhaled the small slip of plastic. A black bar at the top of the door lit up and a red web of light suddenly shone down as the scanner confirmed Levi’s identity. Two quick passes over him and the door beeped again, the light flashing green and he heard the heavy duty bolt slide out of place with a hiss. Tugging it open, he retrieved his card which had been feed through to the other side.

The idea behind the door system was that, even if someone got their hands on his or another one of his team member’s card and used it, the computer would scan the intruder, realize the error and seal them on the landing until one of his team or himself could deal with them. The security measures might have seemed heavy to some, but Levi was an extremely cautious sort.

Heading up the next flight of polished wood stairs, he ended up in narrow hallway. It was completely featureless, white drywall save on one side, where there lay a single pair of elegant mahogany double doors. Across the middle panels were an embossed set of letters- S.O.S- which stood for Special Operations Squad.

The irony of the abbreviation in congruence with an elite group of assassins wasn’t lost on him.

Still it was the professional name of Levi’s core team. It was one people whispered with awe and fear everywhere, from shady back alley deals to secret board meetings held in executive towers. As they held no particular alliance, taking any contract that held interest to them and that could pay the extravagant costs, they had one of the most widespread and infamous reputations in all of Mauer. But it was an extremely hard earned and well deserved status.

After yet another scan, Levi entered the area beyond and heard the low, but constant rumbling of irate voices. Taking a deep breath, Levi closed the heavy door behind him and bent to strip off his knee high, heavy combat boots. He lost an inch or two from the change, dropping down to his natural height of 5’3. Setting them neatly along aside the three other pairs already present, he stripped off his coat, hanging on the corner rack before he continued forward.

The interior of the warehouse HQ was a startling contrast to the decay that surrounded it outside. It was all one continuous space, as indicative of its past state, sectioned off by specific kinds of furniture and scattered full and half walls.

The floors were a dark, polished hardwood that gleamed in the bright overhead. The walls a spotless white, trimmed in forest green. Nearly the entirety of the east facing wall was large glass windows. The windows themselves had a special kind of film resting between the two sheets of bullet proof glass, which obscured the view into the apartment space but allowed light through, much like a one way mirror.

Exiting the entry way, the kitchenette lay against the right hand wall, top line quality gadgets filled the space and there was a wide island of dark marble lined with a few barstools parallel to it. A long table was placed behind that, surrounded by six chairs of a matching dark color and forest green cushions. Further to the right of the kitchen was an obviously added section which contained the washroom, the door to which was closed at present.

On the opposite side of the kitchen section was a multipurpose quarter that held towering bookshelves and two top-line desktop computers and printers. A few armchairs, side tables and lamps filled the rest of the space and every inch was immaculately in place.

Following the voices to the ‘living room’, he spotted two of his people there. One was on the dark green couch, which was cornered by two white single chairs. The floor here was covered by a large area rug of green, white and blue. A large flat screen TV took up the largest gap between the windows. It was currently turned on to the new report of Yaeger’s death he noted, though it was muted.

 Levi stopped to lean against the half wall as he eyed the scene taking place with an irritated scowl.

Auruo Bossard was lounging on the couch, thankfully out of those disgusting rags he’d worn to the mission. He was holding a bloody cloth to his lip and from here Levi spotted the nasty split that ran along the bottom of it. His washed out golden eyes were shadowed under a furrow that was somehow equal parts embarrassment and smugness. His attention was on the petite form of Petra Ral, who was standing in front of him by the glass coffee table, hands resting on her hips. Her near shoulder-length orange hair hung in choppy layers, but was pulled out of her stern, but warm honey-amber eyes.

“If you hadn’t have gone mouthing off to that man in front of his wife, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place!”

“It doesn’t matter. Everything went the way I planned it.”

“Oh for the love of- stop trying to imitate- ah, welcome back Captain.”

The shift in the young woman’s attention and demeanour would have been jarring if Levi hadn’t grown used to it years ago. Even so, his steel colored eyes flicked away as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. She was the one who’d given him the ridiculous title in the first place and the others had all too quickly adopted it.

Rolling his eyes back to the two of them and levelling them with a hard glare, Levi straightened slowly, “Are you two finished bickering like a pair of damn brats?”

At the very least, it both of them shut up, though even as he turned away he could see Ral still glaring at the seated man. It had always baffled him to some degree how they could act so professionally out on the field, but the instant thery were at HQ or there was down time the two of them were all but at each other’s throats.

But for all that it was annoying as hell most of the time, Levi put up with it for the shear fact that he appreciated their unique talents and ability to put it all aside when push came to shove.

Also he was particularly skilled at shutting them up with just a glare now.

Making his way back into the kitchen, he saw the tall blond form of Erd Gin exiting the washroom. The tall man greeted him a nod, brown eyes serious, his brow marked by nearly permanent furrow. Levi returned the gesture briefly. Behind him he could hear footsteps as Ral and Bossard followed him in.

Levi peeled off his gloves and deposited them into a nearby trashcan, because God only knew what kind of filth they’d encountered that day. Turning on the kitchen sink and the water temperature up to the point of it being almost unbearable, he rolled up the sleeves of his deep crimson dress shirt. Snatching up the rounded bar of plain soap seated in a dish on the counter he began vigorously scrubbing at his skin, all the way up to where his sleeves were bunched up in the creases of his elbows.

“So what do we have?”

He spoke as he scrubbed, glancing briefly over his shoulder and his men, far more then use to his idiosyncrasies by now, settled in.

“The documents were all there just like our sources suggested.” Ral piped up first, perching in one of the barstools while the two men took seats at the table, “From what I was able to glance over it seems promising. I left them on your desk.”

His hands were marred by reddish-pink skin by the time he was satisfied. Shutting off the water, he pulled a fresh towel from a drawer and dried off as he took a seat at the island opposite to Petra.

“Good work.” Levi didn’t hand out verbal praise often, but Ral had infiltrated one of the top security zones in the city to obtain those files and they’d been after them for nearly a month now.

And she had done more than her share today after Auruo had apparently blundered and pissed off the wrong person. At least that’s what he’d gathered from what little of their argument he’d heard.

 _Surprise, surprise_ Levi mused.

Bossard was very, _very_ good at what he did; Levi would never have brought him into the Squad if he wasn’t. That being said, the man had an ego that nearly rivalled his own and often times would find himself knee deep in shit that he himself had started. And it was usually Ral who bailed him out of it. The man was just not meant to work in a group setting, Levi knew this very well, but he’d been low on options this time around.

Her honey toned eyes lit up his words and she smiled at him brightly, uttering a muted, but heartfelt thank you.

Petra Ral was unusually sweet for one in their profession. It was something Levi had initially been concerned would impede her considerable abilities. But she’d proved that she was also equally smart and exceptionally talented. All in all she was one of the most useful resources in Levi’s arsenal. People tended to open up to Petra. They never suspected her of anything, but purely genuine kindness. Sweet, unassuming figure that she was, she’d helped him bring down targets from all walks of life. At his last count, she’d had nearly 58 targets under her belt, 10 of which were contracts she’d taken on alone, no mean feat when she’d only been in the business for maybe four to five years.

On top of that, she was also the oddity in their little band. Other than being the only female, Ral was also not from a background one would consider characteristic for people in their line of work. The rest of them, himself included, had been raised in the Underground of Mauer and surrounded by violence wherever their lives took them. They lived and breathed the stuff until it became a part of them.

Erd Gin was a former military sniper, who’d seen one too many of his companions die, sent into hopeless battles. All of it was due to tactical decisions forced on their squads by incompetent authorities who’d never seen, let alone been on a battlefield in their lives. His wife, Rita, who’d been an army doctor serving alongside of him, had been crippled and blinded in one of these poorly planned raids. And when she’d gotten home, the country which they’d both swore their lives to defend had left them without any means of support. That had been the last straw and what had finally driven him to desert ‘the cause’.

Making an early reputation for himself as an elite hacker, Gunther Schultz had learned all too intimately the horrific underhanded deals played out behind the façade of ‘civil protection’. His aging parents had fallen victim to a cruel loaning scheme and had been on the verge of being evicted from their home. Schultz had hacked into one of the governmental mainframes in order to bring the truth to light, and he’d found thousands of files buried within the sealed archives that told him the money stolen was being sent directly into the pockets of those who’d robbed them in the first place. He’d never been able to bring it light though, having to fake his own death to hide from the authorities when he’s trail had been discovered. Once he’d been safe again, he’d tried to go back, to right the injustice done, but the files had been erased.

When his father had been jailed for a crime he hadn’t committed and his mother had been practically on her death bed, Auruo Bossard had watched his five younger brothers all but starve to death. He’d tried seeking help at the establishments that were meant to assist such desperate cases, but those doors had been sealed to him when they’d learned his father’s falsified history as a criminal. Eventually he’d fallen in with a street gang, which had enabled him to keep his brothers alive, but only just and he was never allowed to see them. When his father had been released, and returned home, only to find his eldest son missing and wife dead, he’d taken the younger boys and left Mauer for good.

But Petra Ral was from a typical suburban family, of typical means, but she’d developed a not-so-typical interest in firearms when she’d turned fifteen. A burglar had broken into her home and threatened kill her father, her only surviving parent. Ral had shot him with her father’s pistol. The man hadn’t died, but it had lead the once meek young girl to realize she had the ability to defend people who mattered to her. But because of the corruption that ran deep through the heart of Mauer, the man had gotten off scott free, her father was jailed for undocumented possession of a firearm and Ral had been shipped to military school by her distant relatives.

If there was the one thing that tied their ragtag bunch together, it was a dissatisfaction- bordering on hatred depending on the individual- with the world at large, perhaps, but especially with the corrupted officials in power. All of them held a deep desire to remove any and all corruption from the system. And they’d all found their way to do so, their ability do so through very specific means. It was why Levi had chosen them, why he’d sought out and taken them under his wing.

It had been eight years since he’d formed the Special Ops. Squad and together they’d cut deep into the festering cesspool that was Mauer’s core. And in those years nearly 200 people had found themselves six feet beneath they city they’d helped destroy.

Still, it spoke of just how deep the infestation ran within the system, when one looked at the massive tally they’d racked up; only to realize that they had only just began to scratch the surface.

There was no guarantee that they would be able to change anything and no promise that they would live long enough to see change come. Life was unpredictable and when you lived one as dangerous as they’d each chosen too, every sunrise and sunset could be the last.  Many would call such an idea discouraging, but all that Levi would see was the determined faces of his squad members and knew that they would not give up until they had fallen themselves.

It gave him an odd sense of pride, one that he wasn’t entirely sure he was entitled to.

While he’d been ruminating in his own thoughts, he’d been paying half attention as the three present members of his squad discussed the day’s events. The chatter was interrupted by a low blip and the monitor that was mounted on the wall in place of a television screen suddenly flashed on.

Gunther Schultz’s face appeared on the screen, lit by the white blue light of the multitude of monitors that Levi surrounded him. His nearly black eyes looked relieved as he spied them already gathered.

“Go ahead, Schultz” Levi acknowledged the fourth member of his team with a nod, encourging him to speak. The younger man shifted nervously and there was a concerned tilt to his brow.

“We have a new target.”


	3. Contracts and Contacts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Whether it’s a client, or some jumpstart bastard who thinks he can take us on, it doesn’t matter. We’ll deal with it all the same."

At his words the rest of them sat up straight, focusing intently on the screen. This was extremely unusual. Normally their contracts were spaced out by a few days at least, sometimes weeks before they were officially contacted.

 “It was at one of the drop points, right after the operation today. Almost to the minute.” Schultz continued, and then reached to fiddle with something off screen, the concern on his face deepening, “But there’s something strange about it, Captain.”

Gunther’s camera shrunk down into a corner and the rest of the screen was suddenly filled by a message screen. A quick glance over it and Levi confirmed for himself that it was indeed a contract.

He also noted immediately what had Schultz looking so worried.

There were no details in the request. Normally they were given a name, pictures, or at least some manner of personal information on their next hit. And while some were extremely vague, this was unprecedented.

All that the message contained was a single line of instruction.

_11:59, Trost 18922191212511215145_

“What the hell is that?” Auruo spoke up, his voice a low, irritated grumble as he turned to look at the others.

“I’ve run the numbers already, Captain. And they break down pretty obviously.” A few muted clicks and the numbers on the screen shifted down into a line.

_18/9_

_22/1_

_9/12_

_12/5_

_11/2_

_15/1_

_4/5_

_“_ They’re dates.” Gin suddenly spoke up, his slightly tenor voice sounding confused even still.

“Not just that, they’re all dates that we’ve completed past operations on. Someone’s been monitoring our activity. Probably trying to determine if we were worth the investment.”

“Which targets?”

“Well that’s where it gets interesting. They’re all big wigs or politicians.” Another few clicks and names appeared next to the dates. Levi’s grey eyes glanced over the list, but none of the names stood out. A target was a target and once erased, he didn’t bother to dwell on them.

“That’s worrying though. We shouldn’t be tied to a lot of those- I mean, no one should be able to link those incidents to us. They were covert; we made sure of that.” Ral spoke up after a moment, honey eyes still scanning over the list, delicate brow furrowed with thought.

 “I’m not completely sure, but I think that, whoever they’re sending us after must have resources. Enough to warrant the secrecy. Definitely someone like me if the code is any indication.” Schultz closed the message and his video screen expanded again as he spoke.

“Why put it in code if it’s that easy to figure out?” Auruo grunted, leaning back easily in his seat, picking at his blunt nails.

“Because even if they could crack the code, it wouldn’t mean anything.” Erd replied, cluing in to what Gunther was saying, “I mean the dates can be tied to those deaths sure, but so what? Without context that’s all they are.”

“It might not even be a client. It might be the Titan’s again.”

Auruo laughed suddenly, “You worry too much Petra. Those pansies’ wouldn’t have the balls. Not after the thrashing the Captain gave them last time.”

“He only had to step in because you were stupid enough to antagonize them.” Ral said, sending the man a dark glare, “Honestly, you’re always biting off more than you can chew.”

As the two of them started at each other’s throats once again, Levi tuned them out, mind turning over the situation in his mind slowly. It was a dangerous line to walk; though the same could be said of _any_ line in this kind of work. It could be an ambush by the Titan’s or some other mob group, Mauer had more than enough of them who would be interested in targeting the S.O.S. Over the years they’d certainly given them the incentive for it, having put down at least fifteen high profile members of the dangerous organization, along with a number of their political and financial backers.

But instinct told Levi that wasn’t what this situation was leading to. This move was too subtle for the veritable giant that was the Titan’s. No this was someone else he was certain of it.

 “Should we decline it?” Gunther asked over the noise, both his and Erd’s eyes turning to their leader’s.

“No.” Levi spoke up finally, silencing all other talk, “Whether it’s a client, or some jumpstart bastard who thinks he can take us on, it doesn’t matter. We’ll deal with it all the same.”

The self-assured confidence the shorter man exuded as he spoke straightened his team in their seats. Varying degrees of that confidence was reflected in the bright eyes and faint grins that appeared on their faces.

“Find us an observation point. Fire the details to everyone by 10pm. We’ll meet there and then see where it goes.” Levi turned his attention to Schultz once again, waiting for the young man’s nod of compliance, “Dismissed.”

The screen went dark again, and all eyes turned towards Levi. Petra broke the silence first, sliding from her seat, “Captain, you don’t need to come with us. I know you prefer to keep a low profile and I’m sure that-”

Levi sent her a pointed glance from the corner of his eyes and her protests died out immediately. Slipping from his seat, Levi headed up the stairs which were tucked away but passed the wall of the kitchenette. He knew his team would keep themselves occupied until it was time for them to head out again.

The top floor of the warehouse was done up like a typical single apartment, three doors leading off the main hall to a bathroom, bedroom and office area. Levi was the only one to make any regular use of this floor, so much so that everyone who knew him, outside of his team and one or two acquaintances, believed he lived there.

A brief glance to the clock as he entered his office put the time just after 5 pm, which gave him a little less than four hours to go over the files Ral had obtained. Not nearly enough to glean all the details from them sadly, but enough to get a decent start. He saw the manila envelope perched on the front of his large oak desk, but just as his fingers reached for it, a shrill ringing noise filled the still air.

For a moment he debated not answering the cellphone that buzzed away on the wooden surface. There was only one person who had the number for it and he was rather dreading the conversation that was to come. But he would have to have it eventually he knew, better to get it over with now.

With a bracing grimace, he scooped up the phone on the last ring and set it on speakerphone. Levi didn’t bother speaking, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise for a good while.

 _“Well what did I tell you!?”_ A jarring, overexcited voice exploded from the speaker. Levi cast a brief glance towards the closed door of his office, already wishing he’d escaped, “ _What did I tell you, oh ye of little faith! Oh I heard it on the news. It was beautiful. Didn’t I tell you it would be?_ ”

Sinking into his plush office chair, Levi pulled the envelope Ral had delivered towards him, knowing that his long time companion Hange Zoe wasn’t actually looking for an answer as she babbled on and on about the massively complicated biochemical engineering that had gone into the poison he’d used on Yeager. The woman’s particular expertise in the subject matter had come in handy more than enough times for him to let her go off on tangents when it came to her creations.

Hange worked at the local hospital as a morgue technician. She adored getting her hands on cadavers and slicing them up, learning what had made them tick. It was how the two of them had met. Two years before he’d formed the S.O.S, Levi had worked as an independent hit man. He’d broken into the hospital after hours in order to retrieve a special ring they’d had and his client desired- only informing his of this fact _after_ the hit had been carried out of course. He wouldn’t have done it ordinarily, but in those days he’d been riding a fine line between surviving and starvation and the client had told him point-blank that if he could retrieve the ring, they’d double what they owed him.

So after navigating the labyrinth of hallways into the basement of the hospital, one could only imagine his surprise when there was a young woman still in the building, all too happily chatting away to the corpse she was slicing into. Hange hadn’t even been surprised by his appearance nor the least bit intimidated when he’d pulled a gun on her reflexively. Instead, the bright, mentally flighty young woman had very cheerfully asked if the man was ‘his handiwork.’.

After quite possible he strangest conversation in his life, Hange had given him the ring along with her number and asked if he would contact her later. After about a week and a half of debate with himself he’d called her up and they’d met in some out of the dive bar. Over the thrumming, throbbing pulse of the overly loud music, the technician had given him a unique proposition. She told him about her doctorate in biochemical engineering and had asked him straight out if he would be willing to use her formula in his work. She never asked what it was he did. Never asked why he was responsible for a good number of the bodies that had rested on her sterile workbench. She’d only asked that she be allowed to study whomever it was that her work was used on.

Levi had agreed, because even there, under the terrible, flashing lights he’d seen the look he knew all too well. It a shared disgust with the men and women he’d brought down. The same hatred for the system that fuelled every one of his movements and every one of his contracts.

And somewhere along the way, the bespectacled young woman had become the closest thing to a ‘friend’ someone like Levi was capable of having. Oh certainly she grated on his nerves constantly, and he had more than once considered strangling her mid-rant. But she was useful and more than that Levi trusted her. Trusted her with the very same implicit belief that he had developed with his team. An exceptionally rare thing in this world, but it was there all the same.

And after all these years, Hange had never once betrayed him. Had never turned him in to authorities, even though she knew intimately well what he was and what he did. She knew information about him and about his methods that she could easily sell to hundreds of people. People who would be willing and able to fund her dreams and allow her to live comfortably for the rest of her days.

But after all this time, Levi had never once thought that she would.

” _-respiratory tract. Oh! Levi?”_

The use of his name tuned him back into the one-sided conversation. Hange was the only person alive who knew his actual name. Other’s had only ever known him by the alias he gave under the S.O.S’s guise- Rivaille Ciel. The surname was fake of course and hardly ever used. Levi didn’t have a real one as far as he could remember. Names hadn’t meant a whole lot to some ragged street orphan whose only concern was scrounging his next meal and not getting knifed or shot by some equally desperate soul in a back alley. Memories of his life from before he’d been a hired hand were vague and blurry, almost to the point where they didn’t exist. Frankly Levi wasn’t bothered by it in the least. Details weren’t important and he could recall enough to remember how damn _hard_ life had been.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts as Hange called his name again, he answered with a quiet noise of acknowledgement, tugging the envelope on his desk towards him.

“ _Your camera boy didn’t happen to catch footage of it this time, did he?_ ”

“Really, Glasses? My _camera boy_ , are you fucking serious?” Even knowing she couldn’t see it, he shot an annoyed glance at the phone, slicing open the package neatly with a letter opener. “Seriously- do you hear yourself when this shit when it comes out of your mouth?”

“ _Well did he?_ ” Not that she had ever reacted to his insults anyway, but he knew the tone of her voice. She was entirely focused on the idea of having visual data to look over, with the single mindless he himself displayed when moving in on his targets. Honestly it was impressive given her usual habit of jumping around from topic to topic.

“That’s what I hear-” His quiet drawl was interrupted by an ear-piercing screech of excitement and had he been any less used to it, he might have flinched.

“ _Send it to me. Send it to me right now- oh my god! You are the best! You are amazing, incredible, fantastic! This is going to be unbelievable._ ”

“What’s unbelievable is that you’re this excited about watching some asshole have a chemically induced heart attack.”

 _“It wasn’t a heart attack! It was_ -“

“One, don’t care. Two, shut up.” Waiting a moment to make sure he wouldn’t be interrupted again, Levi continued, “I haven’t even seen the footage. I make no promises.”

“ _And I’ve told you, I don’t care. I reeeally want to see it._ ” Levi rolled his eyes, but placed down the stack of paper he’d slid from the envelope. Reaching out, he flipped open the lid of the silver laptop perched on the right side of his desk. The screen lit up and sure enough there was a video file perched in the center from Schultz. Booting up a browser and a new email, he typed in one of Hange’s five email addresses and sent the video attachment.

Through the phone he heard the ding as the technician received it.

“ _I love you. And I’m going to be ignoring you for the next…ten to twenty minutes._ ”

Levi snorted under his breath and left her to her morbid little footage. Turning his attention to the files that should have had it for the past half an hour, he began picking his way through the massive pile.

There was a massive amount of information on the pages. Any and all information available on the victims of Yeager’s illegal drug trials and unsurprisingly, there tended not to be much on them. Most of the people he’d pulled in were from the Underground, likely promised some huge payout if they participated- if they survived, though he had no doubt that little detail was left out of their agreements. There was enough here to permanently burry Yeager’s corrupted practise if these files ended up in the right hands. And that at least would put a stop to these deadly trials.

Other than the victims, there were also the names of those who’d funded the drug trials, and pushed to have them tested long before it was safe. Links to other corporations and the people who ran them. And while there wasn’t enough to sink the others, it was a start. A good one at that.

“ _Oh my good, sweet God, that was beautiful. You have to watch it sometime._ ” Hange’s voice drew his attention back once more as he tucked the files away for now. He could spill over them in greater detail later. Plucking up the phone, he set it off speaker and held it to his ear as he stood up.

“I’ll make sure you get your cut by Thursday.”

Hange had never asked for it- even outright tried to decline him giving her a share of his profits. But Levi had insisted, at the very least, that she take a share of the operations she had a hand in. He wasn’t going to have her on the streets, not in this city and not when she was useful to him.

“ _Oh, no rush. My backer already gave me my deposit this month._ ”

The words sent a jolt of reminder through him and he hummed briefly to acknowledge her. He’d almost forgotten she roped in a deal almost three months ago. Some bigwig client of the hospital had apparently caught wind of her biochemical work- not the things that she did for Levi naturally, but the rest of it- and had contacted her about funding. Hange had been over the moon, dragging him down to her favourite bar to get completely shitfaced in celebration.

He didn’t know who this person was and decided it wasn’t any of his business so long as Glasses kept her work for him and the backer mutually exclusive of each other.

“Friday then Glasses. And make sure you wipe that file once you’re done with it.”

“ _Oh you know I will, worry wart. Hey, we’re still meeting next week right?_ ”

“Unless something changes.”

“ _Good, because I’ve been **dying** to show these plans I found. Angel really knew what he was doing, my god. The whole idea is brilliant. Now if I could just create some kind of synthetic fuel source-_ ”

“Oi, Shitty-glasses.” Levi cut the scientist off quickly, feeling another rant on the horizon. “You can fill me in next week. I’ve got shit to do.”

“ _Ohhhh, you’ve got another contract? That was fast.”_

As they spoke, Levi exited his office and headed into the bedroom across the hall. The room was simple, a tall wardrobe and dresser lined the walls, while the rest of it was taken up by a wide queen sized bed, made up in shades of dark blue and creamy-white, “Maybe. Don’t know yet.”

“ _You don’t? That’s- hmmm…_ ” Hange cut herself off from saying anything further. She tended to steer clear of any actual details pertaining to his work if she wasn’t involved with it. It was safer for her that way and he wasn’t ever all that open to sharing them. _“Well, be careful alright?_ ”

“Night, Glasses.” Levi brought an end to their conversation as he began unbuttoning his shirt. He heard the woman chuckle on the other end of the line.

“ _Good night Levi.”_

With a click, he ended the call and tossed the phone onto the bedspread. Slipping the smooth, crimson material from his wide shoulders easily, he tossed it and his formfitting black pants into the hamper tucked away alongside the wardrobe. The conversation with Hange had taken a little over two hours, which gave him enough time to shower and prepare for the night ahead.

If the chance of life decided to fuck him over tonight, he would meet it without an inch of urban grim clinging to his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update! Internet's been on the fritz. Expect another chapter or two soon!


	4. Target Acquired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t want to do this kid.” Levi spoke up, keen eyes watching for any sign the younger man might get trigger happy, “Tell me who’s paying you and I might let you walk out of here.”

The wide stairs leading down into Trost Station were dark and shoddily boarded up with “DO NOT ENTER” signs scattered all over. This end of the subway station hadn’t run in almost three years, after one of the tunnels had collapsed and crushed a passing train. The city had deemed it ‘unsafe’ due to a lack of proper maintenance and had closed it down ‘until further notice’.  Now it was a refuge for the homeless and a meeting place for scumbag gangs.

Currently there were two people milling about the old entrance way. They were both dressed neatly and acting far too conspicuously to be squatters. Levi didn’t think it was much of a stretch to assume that they worked for whomever had called them here.

“I don’t like this.” Ral muttered, shifting from her place beside the window, soft honey-toned gaze sharp in the artificial light from the street. Levi said nothing, but he understood her concerns. It was going to be pitch black in the subway and if the two sentries were any indication, there were likely going to be group waiting for them down below. Mobility in the tunnels was limited, tight quarters and low, curved ceilings were going to make fighting a challenge if it came to that.

“ _They won’t have many guns at least. They’re not going to risk the dangerous of ricocheting bullets into their men. Not unless they’re complete idiots._ ” Gin’s voice sounded from their earpieces. He was currently stationed up on the roof of the office they’d broken into, scouting out the surrounding area. He was right of course, and that meant close quarter combat, something Levi prided himself on.

A quick glance to his watch placed the time at 11:30, giving them about thirty minutes to make it into the station proper. Beside him, Bossard grumbled from his chair, “Probably are idiots. They contacted us and then made it really damn obvious that they’re up to shit. That’s just asking for it.”

“No, I don’t want casualties tonight.” Levi spoke up, voice firm and low as he glanced towards the other man, “Odds are this is a legitimate contract. We start killing off their men, things are going to go south fast.”

“But sir, if-”

“And if things go south, I don’t care. No deaths. It’ll be too conspicuous and too messy; I am not in the mood to deal with it tonight. Schultz,” His attention shifted to the laptop on the desk, resting on the video screen, “are we in?”

“Yes sir. Though there was weird activity on the network. Power’s being rerouted somewhere in the south tunnel, but there’s not much to see.” Gunther gave a hapless shrug, and Levi straightened up from his position against the wall.

“It’s fine. Just keep an eye on it. That goes for you as well, Gin.” They both gave him a quiet affirmative and he looked to his remaining team, “I’ll go in ahead. You two deal with the stationaries then head down, spaced a minute apart at least.”

In the darkness of the room, his squad members were like shadows, fluid and nearly invisible in their black clothes. The three of them shared a look, silent as the darkness they masqueraded as, before Levi tugged the door beside him open and they swept down and out the back entrance of the building.

The air had chilled significantly since the sun had dropped; Levi’s breath pooled before him in billowing clouds of steam as he separated from the others and headed for the street. The area surrounding this entrance of the station was practically devoid of human activity. It was a rundown business district in the northwest of Mauer, one which hadn’t operated properly in years and was the perfect setting for carrying out this operation. The lack of eyes, save drunkards and druggies who wouldn’t be listened to even if they did see anything unusual, was more than he could ask for.

Angling himself towards the entrance way, Levi continued on his way. His posture was casual, hands stuck into his black trench’s pockets and his narrow gray eyes sweeping over the surroundings with boredom.

He could see the sentries easier now. Both of them were male and probably no more than sixteen; tall and well-muscled with broad features. The dark haired kid was constantly fiddling in his pockets, where he probably kept a gun he’d never fired in his life.  The shorter silver haired one was tossing his eyes about like a startled rabbit, pacing a few steps in one direction, before turning and walking back; as though he wanted to leave, but duty or desperation was keeping him there. They were young and green as spring, but pity wasn’t something he’d ever felt. These boys had taken this job and learning to deal with the unexpected was just a part of life. Either you succeeded or you died.

Luckily for these greenhorns, he wasn’t after their blood tonight.

The two tensed immediately upon seeing him, though it had taken an embarrassing amount of time for them to do so. Levi wasn’t sure if they’d been told what to watch for, or just to keep anyone away. He got within about six feet of them before the dark haired one stepped forward.

“Y-you aren’t supposed to be here, sir. Move along.”

“Marl, don’t-”

“Shut up, Boris! You know what the boss said.”

Levi watched their little exchange silently, arms folding casually before him. He caught a flicker of movement behind them and made a subtle gesture with his right hand. To anyone else, it just looked like he was scratching his arm. To his team, it was a sign; the operation was now on the move.

“You know we can’t botch-” The kid- Marl- wasn’t even able to finish that thought before a pair of strong hands wrapped around him, one hand covering his mouth with a damp rag soaked in chloroform. The kid was sagging down within seconds, his companion not far behind him. Before they’d even been laid against the ground, Levi was continuing forward.

“Hide them elsewhere, and then follow me if I don’t make contact. Keep yourselves spaced in case there are more of them.”

Without waiting for a reply, Levi ducked down into the subway, slight frame easily squeezing through the space in the boards. The stairs beyond lead down in to the pitch black space below. Making his way down slowly, listening for any signs of life below, his grey eyes peered futility into the darkness. Pausing momentarily once he’d reached the bottom, but still hearing nothing, Levi took a step forward.

A rustle of cloth and over a decade of experience were the only things that saved him from being crushed into the floor by the body that suddenly flung itself at him from the shadows. Swerving backwards, Levi caught the person as their own weight flung them forward, fingers curling into cloth as he drove his knee upwards; smashing it into what he assumed was the person’s stomach. The person heaved in pain and Levi caught the noise of footsteps rushing towards him from the right. He ducked just as a fist flew over his head, hands finding and latching onto the figures arm. Stepping and twisting around to tug it sharply behind their back, he held so that the slightest pressure would snap their wrist.

The guy on the ground suddenly whistled, long and sharp. It echoed down the tunnel and then suddenly the area was flooded with light and the sounds of more people shouting and running towards them.

Levi growled under his breath, breaking his captive’s wrist with ease and shoving him into the other, who was trying to scramble up from the ground. They crashed back down onto the filthy, broken tiles and the assassin wasted no time crushing the heel of his boot into the back of the first guy’s head, smashing him into the floor and knocking him out.

From the east tunnel there appeared a group of at least thirteen people, some with heavy planks of wood or pipes. Now that Levi could see clearly, he noted the ragged state all of them were in. Obviously they were just some poor, stupid fools the person who’d called him here had roped into doing their dirty work.

But something didn’t add up, Levi thought as he back pedaled carefully away from the wall and the group, keeping open space at his back so he had room to manoeuvre. They couldn’t surround him properly, not with the wide track cleaving the area in two and he used that to his advantage. Not that they were really trying, he noted, keeping close to each other even as they fanned out into a half circle in front of him.

Still it didn’t fit. Whoever had contacted him obviously knew what he was able to do and therefore had to realize that a pack of street thugs wasn’t going to cut it if they were trying to take him out. Which meant that this was either just a chance encounter with one of the many rouge groups that scoured these tunnels, or his ‘client’ had some ulterior motive.

Levi was banking on the later.

One of the more apparently muscular men stepped up out of the group, taking a few steps forward, raising a sleek hand pistol. Levi shifted his weight subtly; poised so that he could get out of the way quick enough if he thought the man was going to try anything.

“You don’t want to do this kid.” Levi spoke up then, keen eyes watching for any sign the younger man might get trigger happy, “Tell me who’s paying you and I _might_ let you walk out of here.”

The tall man scoffed, flailing his gun about carelessly in a way that was more worrying then he had the thing trained on Levi. A quick scan of the group told him at least one other, a big man on the left side, was also carrying a firearm; it concealed beneath his jacket.

“Get real, shrimp. You’re outnumbered and you got no way out. You’re the one ain’t walking outta here alive.” The kid grinned, mouth a jagged line of smoke yellowed teeth. Levi grimaced in disgust. He just wanted to be out of this shithole as fast as possible.

“You sure you want to bet on that, dumbass?” Levi sent the brunet a smirk, shifting his weight forward, knowing the effect his words would have. Sure enough, the kid’s hazel eyes flashed, an angry snarl curling at his lips as his fingers tightened on the trigger.

“Shut the hell up!”

_Fucking amateurs._

In an instant Levi had darted forward, ducking the piss-poor shot and clamping down on the guy’s arm. Digging his fingers into the tender flesh of the guy’s wrist and hand, Levi forced him to drop the pistol. Whirling around in a hard roundhouse kick, he scooped the gun up while driving his foot straight into the man’s chest, throwing him backwards. The brunet was knocked off of his feet, scrambling back up when he saw the pistol now in Levi’s hands, screeching, “Get him!”

Just as the group surged towards him, Levi darted back towards the tracks. Propelling himself over the gap in a single leap, he hit the other side, tumbled and got to his feet in one smooth movement. The pistol in his hand was aimed and fired into the kneecap of the first idiot who tried to follow him. The man dropped with a scream onto the metal tracks, clutching his shattered leg. It caused the other’s to hesitate just a moment too long.

The big man on the left with the gun, screamed as a tiny black figure latched onto him from behind, thin fingers digging down into his eyes. He flailed, knocking over another one of his men as he tried to dislodge Ral, who’d drawn blood. The woman propelled herself over his head as he stumbled back, trying to smash her into a wall. Flipping neatly though the air she came down, slamming a heel into a young woman who tried to grab her.

Levi did have time to see the rest of it because five of the remaining men had crossed the tracks and were scrambling up to his side of the platform. Thinking quickly, Levi emptied the remaining bullets into the arm and shoulder of two of them and then tossed the useless gun away.

“Who the fuck are these guys!?” One of the thug’s yelled, panic evident in their high pitched tone.

“I don’t care; just kill ‘em! Kill ‘em now!!” The leader screamed back; he was one of the one’s who’d made it onto Levi’s side. The other two with him each held a pipe-iron, while he was holding a crowbar. They moved carefully, trying to surround him, but Levi expected it and kept moving, not giving them enough time to pin him down.

One of them took a wild swing when he feinted too close to the edge. The pipe struck and smashed the tiles that covered the pillar, sending a shower of dust and fragments into the air. Levi, having anticipated the brash move, caught both of the kid’s wrists, pitching him over his side and down onto the track. He managed to pull the pipe-iron from the other’s hold as they fell and now he used it with brutal efficiency; sweeping the second kid’s legs out from under him and smashing it hard into his left shoulder and hip.

“Grab the bitch!” The sudden cry drew Levi’s attention briefly and he looked back towards the entrance. Across the way, a pair of the thugs had reached Ral, who had just put down her last attacker. Before they could touch her however, a pair of broad hands suddenly grasped and smashed their skulls together with such force they dropped like stones. Bossard had finally appeared. He stalked over to Petra’s side, hauling her to her feet before whirling on the next pair who’d run towards them.

Levi heard the crunch of rubble just a half-second too late. Arms were locked around his as a crowbar was pressed hard to his windpipe. Lean hands jerked up reflexively, grasping onto the metal bar and holding it off from crushing his larynx.

“Captain!”

“Stay where you are!” Levi barked to his men, knowing Ral had a tendency to overreact when her companions were threatened and right now he could see they had their hands full with the last two stragglers on their platform.

“Getting distracted by your people? Boss told us you were a lot smarter than that, shorty.” The leader hissed, foul breath striking hot against Levi’s cheek. The assassin sneered, repulsed and glared at man over his shoulder, “Said you were supposed to be the best o’ the best. Ruthless.”

“I don’t have to be, to deal with weasely little fucks like you.”

Levi’s instep crushed the guy’s right foot. Kicking up off the ground, he braced against the pillar and shoved back against his attacker. The sudden push to his chest sent already misbalanced man toppling backwards with a cry. He dragged Levi with him, but his hold on the pipe had loosened. Moving quickly, Levi wrenched the crowbar out of his hands. Then he rolled back onto his feet and smashed the heel of his boot into the man’s face. His nose exploded in a brilliant spray of blood and he screamed and curled away as his hands flew to cover the wound.

Catching movement from the corner of his eyes, Levi swayed backwards, tumbling out of the way as a lithe blonde woman tried to take him down. Bossard was suddenly there, grasping her arm and sending her to the floor. He twisted the arm up and around, the sound of bone snapping echoing through the tunnel even over her screech of pain. The cry was aborted part way through when the man bashed her head against the floor, knocking her out cold.

Bossard caught the look Levi sent him, his face twisting into an irritated sneer; “She’s not d-” was all he managed to get out before the man he’d left behind suddenly dragged him down into the trench. Levi left the other to his own battles and rose to his feet, calm grey eyes scanning the platform. There were at over fifteen bodies scattered across the concrete surface, all of them incapacitated by unconsciousness or injury, and all of them breathing.

Another strange feeling of pride filled him as he surveyed the area. His men were the best of the best, but getting into these kinds of situations always reminded him of why. It was one thing to take on fifteen people and live to tell the tale. But to make it out without minimal injuries and without using lethal force when it would be so easy to, was an entirely different matter.

His eyes met with Petra’s over the distance as she brushed the dust from her clothes. A grin stretched across her lips, despite the wide bruise across her cheek and the cut bleeding sluggishly across her brow.

The scuffle between Auruo and the last thug ended with a triumphant yell as the black-clad man smashed his fist into the other’s temple and stilled the larger man instantly.

The leader whose nose Levi had smashed in was trying to stagger to his feet, so Levi stepped over, kicked the man in the ribs and sent him back down. He dropped with a groan and the assassin shoved the brunet onto his back, foot bracing against the man’s chest as he drew out his gun. Hazel eyes shot wide as Levi leaned forward, aiming the barrel directly at his forehead.

“Who sent you?” Levi’s voice was calm and even as he gazed down at the prone figure, cutting him off before he could start babbling nonsense, “Answer, or you’ll see just how ‘ruthless’ I can be.”

 “That won’t be necessary.”

A voice echoed through the air and Levi glanced up briefly. It was displaced and slightly mechanical in tone; meaning the speaker wasn’t here, likely jus using some sort of remote device. _Fucking cowards_ Levi thought, keeping his gun aimed at the helpless sap on the floor, clicking off the safety, “Pretty sure it is, given you sending these assholes after me.”

“I was merely testing your strength. I’m glad to see that it doesn’t disappoint.” The voice, male he guessed from the slightly deeper tone, had a note of condescension in it that grated across Levi’s nerves like sandpaper.

“Bullshit.” The small man answer, expression unchanging as he ground his heel into the man below to keep the other from squirming, “It’s obvious you’ve been watching us. You know damn well what I’m capable of. You just thought you’d take your shot at erasing me.”

“What could I possibly gain from trying to kill you?”

“The favour of a hell of a lot of high up bastards. Probably a shiny gold sticker in there too if you kiss enough ass.”

 “Come Rivaille, we can be civilized. You’ll want to hear what I have to say.”

“Less and less by the second; so start talking.”

“I would prefer-”

_BANG_

The man’s voice was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Levi held the still smoking gun just slightly angled, disinterested grey eyes shifting to stare at the hole in the floor not an inch from the top of his captive’s head. Beneath his foot, the assassin felt the tell-tale shudder of a man who’d just pissed himself.

_Disgusting_.

“I’m not in the mood for bullshit. Get to the fucking point, or the deal’s off and I’ll come after you instead.”

The tension in the silent air was so taught a breeze could’ve snapped it. Ral and Bossard had their own weapons drawn out of precaution. Ral had eyes on the stairs and the thugs, while Auruo was scanning the tunnels, keeping an eye out for any remaining enemies. He left them to it, keeping his attention on the conversation.

“What do you know of this man?”

The overhead TV monitors suddenly lit up as the voice continued. Casting a warning glare down at the man on the ground, Levi straightened, turning to peer up at the image that had appeared.

He recognized the picture from a couple of news broadcasts he’d seen in passing. The man in it was tall and muscular, with short blond hair, strong features and piercing blue eyes. Racking his brain momentarily to recall what he’d heard, Levi answered, “He’s some big shot politician who’s been gaining favour the last couple of years. Nothing special.” Hell, Levi didn’t even know the man’s name and he made it his business to know the ‘big players’. This man wasn’t even a blip on the radar, other than being a typical scumbag politician with way too much money.

“Oh, but he is. As you know, appearances can be deceiving and Erwin Smith has spent his entire life lying.” There was something in the man’s voice now, something other than the egotistical condescension; a dark tone, almost like hatred. Levi wouldn’t be surprised if this Smith fellow had fucked him over big time. The thought almost made him smirk.

“Shocking.” The raven haired man answered, voice completely deadpan, “A politician lying- what is this country coming to?”

“I don’t appreciate the attitude.”

“You brought me here to discuss a job; you didn’t hire me for my attitude. And there’s not enough money in the world that would make me kiss your ass.” Levi glanced over his shoulder momentarily, noticing that the thugs were slowly coming around. Those who could move were dragging themselves over to their companions, helping them up while they eyed the trio of assassin’s with angry, but fearful eyes. Ral and Bossard glanced at him and he waved at them to stand down. The gang wasn’t any threat, so he’d let them leave to lick their wounds. “So what do you want done with him?”

“I want him dead.” The hatred was stronger now. Levi rolled his eyes internally, shifting his weight to one foot as he crossed his arms over his chest, keeping a hold of his gun.

“Really? Here I thought you’d hired me to seduce the bastard. What a shame.”

Still Levi was almost surprised. This bastard was wasting a hell of a lot of time talking if he only wanted the guy dead. There was obviously more to it than that, but he didn’t feel like getting tangled up in some political cock-fight. He’d rather stand back and watch the swine go at each it and then finish them both off when they were distracted.

“I can kill him easily enough, but is that it? You just want him out of the way?”

“Yes, that’s all. But this man is dangerous- _very_ dangerous. _Don’t_ underestimate him; he’ll kill you if you slip up once; even in the smallest way.”

_Well he can get in line then._ Levi hummed thoughtfully, shifting his weight again, lifting a hand to eye his fingernails, “What’s in it for us?”

“Us? No, no, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not hiring the S.O.S. I want you to deal with this one alone, Rivaille. You have to kill him.”

“Trying to tell me how to do my fucking job, you bastard?” Grey eyes narrowed dangerously, an unpleasant frown turning down the edges of his lips. Levi did _not_ appreciate arrogant pigs trying to stick their noses into his work.

He could almost hear the man backpedalling his train of thought and the next time he spoke there was sickly, sweet undertone to it, like the idiot was trying to pacify him, “Will you do it? The fewer people involved the better; Smith has eyes and ears in the most unlikely of places.”

Levi considered the idea briefly. It would be far from the first target he’d gone after alone, but it would be the biggest if everything this guy had said was true. He had no problem going solo of course, and he could utilize his team in the preparation. Finally he shrugged, shifting his eyes back up towards the monitor.

“Fine; doesn’t change my question though.”

“I guarantee; you take care of Smith and you’ll never have to worry about anything ever again.”

“I’m not interested in empty promises. Not from a dirty coward who hides behind thugs and screens. What do we get out of this?”

“Fifty-million.”

“Holy _shit_ -!” Auruo’s stunned exclamation was cut off when Petra elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“Fifty-million up front and another one hundred million upon confirmation of his death.” The price set Levi on high alert. Someone really, _really_ wanted this Smith guy dead apparently; someone with way too much cash and a hell of a lot of influence if they were targeting such a public figure he realized. Luckily though, that would allow them to narrow down the list of possible clientele to a tiny margin.

“You have a timeline for this?” Levi asked, because that would change things significantly. Usually, especially when going after men like Smith, his clients would have a set date they needed the job done by; an election, speech or some other high society bullshit. Having a pre-set date could be a challenge, depending on how long he was given.

“You have until the New Year; December 31st at 11:59pm.” That gave Levi a little more than three and a half months. A surprisingly generous amount of time he noticed, but he didn’t question it. It would give him time to focus on other contracts as well.

 “Oh and I feel I should tell you; you won’t be the only going after him. There are…others who would delight in Smith’s head on a spike. Do make sure you get there first.” The voice was oozing a disgustingly patronizing tone as it continued, “Remember Rivaille, _you_ have to be the one to kill him, or there is no deal.”

“You uphold your end and I’ll do my work. If you don’t, I’ll still do my work; you just won’t see the results.” Levi’s voice was calm and low, but the threat underlying those words was obvious enough. He had no problem reminding pretentious bastards of exactly who it was they were dealing with. They were the ones who came to him after all. They would respect him or they would pay for it with far more then what they promised him.

The man’s voice was tight, and Levi picked out the subtle tension to it with sadistic pride, “Of course. Seems we have a deal, Mr. Ciel. I will contact you later with further details.”

The monitor shut down and the subway was plunged back into the darkness. Levi pocketed his gun finally, and pressed against his earpiece.

“You get that?”

“ _Yes Captain._ ” Schultz’s response was immediate and Levi turned and headed back towards the entrance, where he could see the shapes of Ral and Bossard lurking.

“Good. Let’s find out who we’re dealing with. On both sides.”

“ _Understood._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> So...Levi's an assassin. Isn't that exciting? ^_^"
> 
> Anyway,
> 
> Hello! I'm Rose.  
> It's a bit on the short side for now, but thanks for taking the time to check out my fic. This is legitimately the first thing I've ever actually had the guts to post online. Also my first fic period. So obviously first SNK fic. (god- so many firsts!).
> 
> Also this is legitimately an idea that I woke up at basically 2:00 am with and just had to get it down. (On that note, please excuse any glaring grammatical or other flaws.)
> 
> Just a few things to note,  
> Yes, this is an Eruri fic (Eruri is basically running (ruining...?) my life right now-deargodboysstopbeingsoamazing!!-so yeah)...buuut Erwin's not going to show up for at least another chapter maybe two. And Levi and him might not interact for a few more after that...I don't know, this is just kinda falling out of my head as I go. I have some basic ideas for it but we'll see what happens.
> 
> Anyway! I'm not sure how long this is going to be, definitely a number of chapters. Also I'm going to do my best to update fairly regularly, so fingers crossed.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, please leave comments, critique, ect. It would make my day/week/month.


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